George Mortimer Pullman was born on March 3, 1831 in Brocton, NY.  In 1845 the family moved to Albion, NY located along the Erie Canal.  His father helped to widen the canal using a machine he invented that could move a building or other sturctures out of the way and onto new foundations.  Pullman helped his father and learned other skills.  When his father died in 1855, he dropped out of school and took over the family business.  In 1856 Pullman won a contract with New York State to move 20 buildings out of the way of the widening canal.  In 1857 he went to Chicago, formed a partnership known as Ely, Smith and Pullman and was hired to lift multi-story buildings 4 to 6 feet allowing sewers to be built and improved foundations for the buildings. The partnership gained favorable publicity for raising the massive six-story Tremont House Hotel while guests remained inside.

About this time the American railroad system was expanding enormously and in 1859 the Pullman sleepers or "palace cars" debuted and were an immediate success.  After President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Pullman arranged to have his body carried from Washington,DC to Springfield on a sleeper for which he gained national attention, as hundreds of thousands of people lined the route in homage.  Lincoln's body was carried on the Presidential train car that Lincoln himself had commissioned that year. Pullman had cars in the train for the President's surviving family.  The Pullman car had a wider wheel set, requiring a wider track.  As a result of the many people seeing the Presidential car, it became sought after and resulted in a major change to all railroad widths. 

Orders for his new car began to pour into his company.  While the sleeping cars proved successful, each cost more than 5 times the price of a regular railway car.  They were marketed as "luxury for the middle class".  Both the "President" and the "Delmonico" and subsequent sleeping cars offered first-rate service.  The company hired African-American freedmen as Pullman porters.  Many of the men had been former domestic slaves in the South.  Their new roles required them to act as porters, waiters, valets, and entertainers, all rolled into one person.  As they were paid relatively well and got to travel the country, the position was considered prestigious, and Pullman porters were respected in the black communities.  Pullman became the biggest employer of African-Americans in the post-Civil War America.

Pullman was a prolific businessman, buying businesses and patents.  By 1875 the Pullman firm owned $100,000 worth of patents, had 700 cars in operation, and had several hundred thousand dollars in the bank---and he was 44 years old!

In 1880 Pullman bought 4,000 acres of land near Lake Calumet, about 14 miles south of Chicago, on the Illinois Central Railroad for $800,000.  His new plant was built there as well as housing, shopping areas, churches, theaters, parks, hotel and library for his workers.  It was one of the most healthful places in the world, and he expected the town to make money as an enterprise.  By 1892, the Pullman community was valued at over $5 million.  Pullman ruled the town like a feudal baron. He prohibited independent newspapers, public speeches, town meetings or open discussions.  His inspectors regularly entered homes to inspect for cleanliness and could terminate workers' leases on ten day notices. The church stood empty since no approved denomination would pay rent, and no other congregation was allowed.  He also prohibited private charitable organizations.  In 1885, Richard Ely wrote in Harper's Weekly that the power exercised by Otto Von Bismarck, who was known as the unifier of modern Germany, was "utterly Insignificant when compared with the rulings of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Pullman". In 1894 when manufacturing demands fell off, Pullman cut jobs and wages and increased working hours in his plant, but did not lower rents or prices in the company town.  A workman might make $9.07 in a fortnight and the rent of $9.00 would be taken directly out of his paycheck, leaving him with 7 cents to feed his family. This caused the workers to go on strike.  It lasted for 2 months, eventually leading to intervention by the US Government and military.  On July 8th, soldiers began shooting strikers.  That was the beginning of the end of the strike.  By the end of the month, 34 people had been killed, the strikers were dipersed, the troops were gone, and the courts had sided with the railway owners. Pullman's reputation was soiled by the strike, and then officially tarnished by the presidental commission that investigated the incident.  The report condemned Pullman for refusing to negotiate for the economic hardships he created for workers in the town of Pullman.  The State of Illinois filed suit, and in 1898 the Supreme Court of Illinois forced the Pullman Company to divest ownership in the town, which was annexed to Chicago.

On October 19, 1897, at the age of 66 years old, Pullman died from a heart attack in Chicago, Illinois.  Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, became company president.  Pullman left behind an estate of $7.6 million, 2490 railroad cars and a $63.5 million corporation.  The Pullman Company merged in 1930 with Standard Steel Car Company to become Pullman-Standard, which built its last car for Amtrak in 1982.  After delivery the Pullman-Standard plant stayed in limbo, and eventually shut down.  In 1987, its remaining assets were absorbed by Bombardier.

In Pullman's will, he bequeathed $1.2 million to establish the Pullman Free School of Manual Training for the children of the Pullman Palace Car Company and the residents of the neighboring Roseland community.  In 1950, the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation succceeded the Pullman Free School of Manual Training, also known as Pullman Tech, after it closed its doors in 1949.  Located in Chicago, Illinois, the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation supports college-bound high school seniors with merit-based, need-based scholarships to attend the college of their choice.  As of today, since its founding in 1950, the Foundation has awarded approximately $33 Million to over 14,000 outstanding Cook County students.